# 1955 Speedway National League

The 1955 Speedway National League was the 21st season and tenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

## Summary

The league consisted of seven teams after the Harringay Racers ceased competitive speedway racing at the end of 1954. Match line-ups were reduced from eight riders to seven riders. Wimbledon won their second successive National League Championship. West Ham closed at the end of the season, blaming poor attendances.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Wimbledon Dons | 24 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 34 |
| 2 | Belle Vue Aces | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 30 |
| 3 | Wembley Lions | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 23 |
| 4 | Bradford Tudors | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 22 |
| 5 | Birmingham Brummies | 24 | 9 | 2 | 13 | 20 |
| 6 | Norwich Stars | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 19 |
| 7 | West Ham Hammers | 24 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 18 |

## Fixtures & results
### A fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | BIR | BRA | NOR | WEM | WH | WIM |
| Belle Vue | | 64–32 | 55–41 | 55–41 | 57–39 | 51–44 | 49–47 |
| Birmingham | 53–43 | | 52–44 | 51–45 | 50–45 | 64–32 | 43–53 |
| Bradford | 61–35 | 62–34 | | 68–28 | 46–50 | 56–39 | 51–45 |
| Norwich | 47–49 | 62–34 | 61–35 | | 46–50 | 54–42 | 42–54 |
| Wembley | 66–30 | 68–28 | 61–35 | 66–30 | | 50–46 | 49–47 |
| West Ham | 47–49 | 48–48 | 59–37 | 50–46 | 46–50 | | 42–54 |
| Wimbledon | 72–24 | 73–22 | 59–37 | 70–26 | 49–46 | 63–33 | |

### B fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | BIR | BRA | NOR | WEM | WH | WIM |
| Belle Vue | | 71–25 | 63–33 | 51–45 | 53–43 | 62–34 | 55–41 |
| Birmingham | 50–46 | | 47–49 | 50–43 | 55–41 | 46–50 | 48–48 |
| Bradford | 63–33 | 52–44 | | 47–49 | 55–41 | 51–45 | 52–44 |
| Norwich | 41–55 | 64–32 | 60–34 | | 51–45 | 53–43 | 48–48 |
| Wembley | 38–57* | 43–53* | 41–45* | 54–42* | | 46–50* | 46–49* |
| West Ham | 62–34 | 50–45 | 60–36 | 37–59 | 48–48 | | 47–49 |
| Wimbledon | 50–45 | 67–28 | 56–40 | 53–43 | 51–45 | 44–52 | |
* Wembley Lions were forced to hold one set of their home fixtures at the away team's venue due to the ongoing installation of floodlights at Wembley Stadium from May.

## Top Ten Riders (League only)

| | Rider | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Jack Young | West Ham | 10.79 |
| 2 | Ronnie Moore | Wimbledon | 10.77 |
| 3 | Ove Fundin | Norwich | 10.00 |
| 4 | Barry Briggs | Wimbledon | 9.79 |
| 5 | Brian Crutcher | Wembley | 9.34 |
| 6 | Arthur Wright | Bradford | 9.14 |
| 7 | Peter Craven | Belle Vue | 8.96 |
| 8 | Arthur Forrest | Bradford | 8.91 |
| 9 | Ron Johnston | Belle Vue | 8.61 |
| 10 | Ken Sharples | Belle Vue | 8.43 |

## National Trophy Stage Two

The 1955 National Trophy was the 18th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of two stages; stage one was for the second-tier clubs, stage two was for the top-tier clubs. Norwich won the second and final stage and were therefore declared the 1955 National Trophy champions.
* For Stage One - see Stage One
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 04/08 | Poole | 56-52 | Birmingham |
| 16/07 | Birmingham | 56-52 | Poole |
| 16/07 | Belle Vue | 61-47 | Wembley |
| 16/07 | Bradford Odsal | 52-56 | Wimbledon |
| 16/07 | Norwich | 69-39 | West Ham |
| 14/07 | Wembley | 67-41 | Belle Vue |
| 12/07 | West Ham | 49-58 | Norwich |
| 11/07 | Wimbledon | 76-31 | Bradford Odsal |
| 18/08 replay | Poole | 69-39 | Birmingham |
| 17/08 replay | Birmingham | 67-41 | Poole |
Semifinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 29/08 | Poole | 58-50 | Norwich |
| 27/08 | Norwich | 82-26 | Poole |
| 15/08 | Wimbledon | 61-47 | Wembley |
| 04/08 | Wembley | 63-45 | Wimbledon |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Norwich were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 109–106.

## Midland Cup

Birmingham won the Midland Cup for a third consecutive year. It consisted of four teams, there was one team from division 1 and three teams from division 2.
First round
| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Oxford | Leicester | 49–53, 29–73 |
Semi final round
| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Leicester | Coventry | 66–36, 51–51 |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Birmingham won on aggregate 108–96

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Peter Craven 8.96
* Ron Johnston 8.61
* Ken Sharples 8.43
* Bob Duckworth 6.69
* Harry Edwards 5.05
* Peter Williams 4.93
* Fred Rogers 4.76
* Dick Fisher 4.70
* Tink Maynard 4.47
* Don Cuppleditch 4.45
* Frank Johnson 1.60
Birmingham
* Alan Hunt 7.94
* Ron Mountford 7.87
* Doug Davies 7.08
* Graham Warren 5.31
* Eric Boothroyd 5.21
* Harry Bastable 5.11
* Jim Tolley 4.35
* Derrick Tailby 2.77
Bradford
* Arthur Wright 9.14
* Arthur Forrest 8.91
* Eddie Rigg 7.85
* Guy Allott 6.18
* Keith Milner 6.04
* Des Haswell 5.04
* Al Allison 4.28
* Ron Clarke 3.57
* Jack Hughes 3.27
* Nigel Boocock 2.24
Norwich
* Ove Fundin 10.00
* Billy Bales 8.33
* Aub Lawson 7.38
* Phil Clarke 7.32
* Cyril Roger 6.51
* Harry Edwards 4.80
* Fred Brand 4.58
* Don Lawson 2.49
* Malcolm Flood 1.52
Wembley
* Brian Crutcher 9.34
* Tommy Price 7.31
* Eric Williams 6.95
* Freddie Williams 6.91
* Trevor Redmond 6.13
* Eric French 5.88
* Ken Adams 4.35
* Jimmy Gooch 4.00
West Ham
* Jack Young 10.79
* Split Waterman 7.46
* Gerry Hussey 6.87
* Bert Roger 5.79
* Alan Smith 5.51
* Wally Green 5.44
* Jack Biggs 4.93
* Johnny Fitzpatrick 2.15
* Terry Courtnell 1.73
* Howdy Byford 0.73
Wimbledon
* Ronnie Moore 10.77
* Barry Briggs 9.79
* Peter Moore 7.76
* Ron How 7.63
* Cyril Maidment 5.54
* Les McGillivray 5.33
* Cyril Brine 5.16
* Alf Hagon 4.98
* Reg Trott 1.14